Low productivity not our workers’ fault: WP’s Low
By Gerald Giam
3 March 2010 | 2,172 Views | 10 Comments | 
Print
| 
Email
Workers’ Party chief Low Thia Khiang has slammed the PAP government for seemingly suggesting that Singaporean workers have only themselves to blame for their low incomes, because of their low productivity and skills. He said it was easy to blame our local workforce for low productivity when it was the Government which opened the floodgates to foreign workers.
Low was speaking Parliament on Tuesday in response to the Finance Minister’s Budget 2010 speech last week.
The Opposition leader pointed out that manual workers like cleaners and garbage collectors in developed economies are paid so much more than their counterparts in Singapore, attributing this to those countries’ more compassionate and effective policies to ensure that workers at the bottom of the economic ladder enjoy a decent and dignified life. Referring to the Government’s latest productivity drive, which is to grow productivity by 2 to 3 per cent each year over the next decade, Low wondered if low wage workers had to wait another 10 years for the wage increases which they had not seen in the last 10 years.
Low lamented that Singaporean workers are constantly told by the Government to “up-skill, re-skill, multi-skill, be cheaper, better, and faster”. He accused the Government of “squeezing every drop of effort and energy from our workers to achieve its desired GDP numbers”. He felt that the ‘growth at all costs’ strategy initiated since the late nineties resulted in the present state of our economy where low wage earners are growing dependent on state-funded handouts to subsist. He charged that for Budget 2010, the Government is using their same conventional wisdom to address the fundamental problems caused its policies of the last decade.
Abolish the foreign worker levy
Low called the Government to take a bold step to remove the foreign workers levy completely, and instead use the Dependency Ratio to control the growth of foreign workers in Singapore. (The Dependency Ratio sets how many foreign workers a company is allowed to hire for each Singaporean worker. The current ratio ranges from 1 Singaporean for every 7 foreign workers in the construction sector, to 1 is to 5 in the marine sector.) He reasoned that employers will save on the foreign worker levy they currently pay, and this could be used to benefit their local workers, including providing more training for them to improve their skills to become more productive.
Low also questioned whether the proposal to increase foreign worker levies was a revenue-enhancing exercise. He calculated that the Government collects about $1.6 billion in foreign worker levies each year.
Continuing education for older workers
In order to provide more adult continuing education programmes to cater to the needs of older Singaporeans, Low suggested starting a community college for citizens of all ages, especially older Singaporeans. He said the college should have no or minimum entry requirements, offering courses that are totally modular. This would allow senior citizens to earn credits towards a degree or simply for self-enrichment purposes.
The PAP’s response
Responding to Low, PAP MP Josephine Teo criticised his suggestion to remove the foreign worker levy. She said: “To try and introduce an alternative system to a pricing mechanism is a very dangerous suggestion to make. It opens up a whole pandora box (sic) of the difficulties we have to overcome.”
Teo was dutifully following the PAP’s modus operandi of labelling any bold idea suggested by an Opposition MP as “dangerous”. She said that without the levy, foreign workers will be cheaper and more attractive to businesses, and some will find loopholes to get round the quotas, to get cheaper workers, “affecting jobs for Singaporeans”.
She did not explain what loopholes businesses would find to get around a higher dependency ratio, in a country which is renown for very strict enforcement of laws. She also seemed oblivious to the fact that it was the PAP government which opened Pandora’s box of troubles by allowing in so many unskilled foreign labourers over the past decade, and in the process depressing Singaporean workers’ wages and our nation’s productivity.
In a flash of presumptuousness, Teo declared: “I can speak on behalf of the union leaders that we totally and firmly reject Mr Low’s disastrous suggestion that we remove the foreign worker levy as it will harm our workers’ interest.”
| Please support my campaign. Buy my book. Click here. |
Email
I am a member of the Workers' Party. I blog in my personal capacity about policy issues in Singapore. 
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:35 AM
Our Prime Minister should set a good example himself by improving on his own productivity by reducing the no. of Deputy Ministers, Ministers and other highly paid Parliamentary Secretaries assisting him in the Prime Minister’s Office. Do we find such a situation in other nations where a Prime Minister needs 7 or 8 Ministers apart from the rest of the cabinet to govern a country ?
Why is it that the impression that I get is that our own Prime Minister is being overshadowed by our Minister Mentor, his own father who is approaching his nineties and who instead should be resting at home to enjoy his twilight years instead of toiling in and out of visiting foreign countries on behalf of the PM son. Isn’t it strange that Singapore has such an indisposable leader that it will be havoc if he ever dies ?
What is worse is that our own Prime Minister seems to be involved in petty activities like visiting junior colleges which should appropriately be delegated to the Minister of Education, isn’t it ? If he is sick and could not take the stress of a Prime Minister’s job, he should give way to others. Why is it that our Prime Minister is still looking for his heir apparent ? Is there none qualified enough to take over his present job ?
If nothing is done to beefed up the PM’s Office, any other plans to improve productivity is just empty talk !
March 3rd, 2010 at 9:42 AM
““To try and introduce an alternative system to a pricing mechanism is a very dangerous suggestion to make. It opens up a whole pandora box (sic) of the difficulties we have to overcome.””
As usual, this famously good-for-nothing boot-licking female MP is shooting herself in the foot. When the revamped system can increases the coffers’ revenue and profit, it is okay to try and introduce the system ASAP and passing those policy with totally no objection (so she means that changing increasing levy charge or add more ridiculous PayAndPay charge to pricing mechanism is NOT a very dangerous suggestion ?). Whereas if system reduces the profit of the gov, it is a dangerous thing to try. Just look at her twisted logic which typical of moronic Pappy.
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:28 AM
[...] 2010 – Gerald Giam: Low productivity not our workers’ fault: WP’s Low – Sgpolitics.net: PAP and Opposition MPs raise concerns over foreign worker levy – Sgpolitics.net: [...]
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:28 AM
[...] 2010 – Gerald Giam: Low productivity not our workers’ fault: WP’s Low – Sgpolitics.net: PAP and Opposition MPs raise concerns over foreign worker levy – Sgpolitics.net: [...]
March 3rd, 2010 at 11:47 AM
I think Josephine is a joke. And what about the loop holes to increasing levy. Workers will end up paying snake heads more for the increase in levy, and continue to be paid peanuts, resulting in low productivity.
How does Me Joseephine tackle this loophole?
http://lianain.blogspot.com/2010/03/so-how-much-did-you-pay-your-agent.html
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:49 PM
Easy to rebut and sing the tune of the incumbent party where you have the majority vote. I don’t see how your response have helped Singaporeans, Josephine.
I wonder if you are still an MP representing Singaporeans, or an MP representing PAP. For heavens’ sake, you are in a parliamentary sitting to REPRESENT your constituency and PEOPLE.
Sheesh,
Kaffein
March 3rd, 2010 at 1:49 PM
[...] This article was first published on Gerlad Giam’s Blog [...]
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:32 PM
If J Teo can represent all the union leaders in Singapore, unions must be lackeys of govt. No wonder our workers are unable to fight for their rights. As LKY said, w/o foreigners, no one would do the dirty work. Maybe Govt should start thinking by paying high ministerial level salaries to our Singapore construction workers so that they can “SACRIFICE” to build our craved IRs!
March 6th, 2010 at 11:10 AM
[...] the path not yet taken – WSJ: ‘The Singapore Way’ [Thanks Gerald] – Gerald Giam: Low productivity not our workers’ fault: WP’s Low – Sgpolitics.net: PAP and Opposition MPs raise concerns over foreign worker levy – Sgpolitics.net: [...]
March 6th, 2010 at 11:10 AM
[...] the path not yet taken – WSJ: ‘The Singapore Way’ [Thanks Gerald] – Gerald Giam: Low productivity not our workers’ fault: WP’s Low – Sgpolitics.net: PAP and Opposition MPs raise concerns over foreign worker levy – Sgpolitics.net: [...]